A Return
When she bent over the twins
who were sleeping on the floor,
I thought that the sadness
and wisdom of her trip
still clung to her and hoped
for the time that would arrive
soon enough when she could be silly
again, loveably ordinary,
and I could look at her unafraid.
by Keith Taylor
The poem “A Return” is from “The Ancient Murrelet”, Keith Taylor’s new chapbook, (the poem originally appeared in the Michigan lit journal, “Pank”).Taylor is a poet and coordinator of undergraduate writing instruction at the University of Michigan. His newest chapbook of poetry, “The Ancient Murrelet”, is his fourteenth publication and his first poetry chapbook from Alice Greene & Co. In addition to his poetry, he is a writer of fiction and has edited anthologies as well as being the poetry editor for the Michigan Review. Keith also directs the Bear River Writer’s Conference. Learn more here about the Conference.
In this collection he explores the meaning of home and the challenges of being separated from it. Nostalgia is not sentimentality, but “the sickness that comes from longing for home.” Keith draws on his travels in younger days through Europe and Asia, the people he would meet, and connects them to where he lives now, to Michigan, its wildlife and the cycles of nature. The Ancient Murrelet is a bird not commonly found in these parts, but can sometimes get blown far from its home.
Taylor will release his new chapbook 8 p.m., Friday April 5 at the Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor Michigan which is located on the corner of 124 E. Washington and Fourth. Literati opened its doors this past week and it is the first independent bookstore to open in Ann Arbor since the closing of Borders. Read more about Literati here. The store is jointly owned by Hilary Lowe and Mike Gustafson.
Keith’s poetry is interspersed with line drawings by Melanie Boyle. He co-edited a collection of short stories and essays, “Ghost Writers”, which was named a 2012 Michigan Notable Book.
